2 men sentenced for operating sex trafficking ring

December 2, 2016Updated: December 2, 2016 12:59am

BOSTON (AP) — Two men have been sentenced to prison for operating a sex trafficking ring in Massachusetts, Maine and New York.

The U.S. Attorney's office says 27-year-old Kwamaine Wells, of Brockton, was sentenced to a little over 11 years in prison. Twenty-eight-year-old Akil DeCoteau, of Boston, will serve more than a year behind bars.

Both men were sentenced to five years of supervised release. They pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy and transportation of an individual with intent to engage in prostitution.

Between April 2013 and February 2014, prosecutors say Wells transported four women across state lines and used force to coerce two of them into working as prostitutes.

Prosecutors say DeCoteau recruited one woman in January 2014 to work for him as a prostitute over a two-week period.